(photo/ Christopher Peterson)

In a new interview with The New York Times, famed music executive credits his music career to luck and fate. The 85 year old who is the Chief Creative Officer of Sony will be subject to a documentary which will open the Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday.

The music mogul claims he has a gift of determining hits and who could be a long-lasting, major star.

“Through both luck and fate, I discovered on the job that I had a natural gift that I never knew I had.

The gift is to determine who could be a long-lasting, major star. And from a repertoire point of view, those songs that are capable of becoming first a hit record — how they could be arranged, sung, performed — and hopefully be one of those very few hit records that become standards.”

Music blogs are a great medium for artists that want to grow their audience. Receiving shout-outs from tastemaker blogs can increase an artists’ subscriber base, song streams, and outside opportunities including brand partnerships. Of course, making contact with bloggers poses a challenge for artists since many of the blogs receive hundreds of music submissions a day. Many bloggers freely admit that their inbox looks like a war zone.

Rapper Kellee Maize notes, “When I started reaching out to blogs many years ago, the volume of emails coming to these sites wasn’t as large. I definitely received some blog love, and it helped my SEO a great deal, but more and more folks are making amazing music, (which is awesome), and this marketing strategy of emailing music blogs is now over-saturated.

Just imagine how many submissions Stereo Gum and Pitchfork get? And, getting no response, time and time again can be a discouragement that you don’t deserve – but don’t worry, blogs will start reaching out to you, once you build a fan base”.

If you make good music and build a fanbase, then generally blogs will find you and start posting your music. This can lead to licensing opportunities and brand partnerships.

So who are the top 100 music blogs on the web? Pitchfork and Consequence of Sound are at the top of the list according to Feedspot . Others include Your EDM, Pigeons & Planes, Hype Machine, The 405, Ear Milk, Largehearted Boy, Kings of A&R, Brooklyn Vegan, The Wild Honey Pie and The Music Ninja.

The full list of the top 100 music blogs on the web can be viewed here.

Forbes has released its annual Electronic Cash Kings list of the top-earning DJ’s. How did these EDM artist collectively generate over $250 million? They generated the millions through music, gigs and brand endorsements.

Calvin Harris who is on top of the list and gets paid more than $400,000 per Vegas gig, told Forbes several years ago “I want to be the number one songwriter-producer guy of all time.”

Calvin Harris – $63 million
Tiesto – $38 million
David Guetta – $28 million
Zedd – $24.5 million
Steve Aoki – $23.5 million
Diplo – $23 million
Skrillex – $20 million
Kaskade – $19 million
Martin Garrix – $16 million
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike – $15.5 million

Kevin Kadish, the songwriter behind Meghan Trainor’s mega-hit All About That Bass received a check $5,679.00 for the song which has surpassed 200 million streams. He isn’t very happy.

“For a song like ‘All About That Bass,’ that I wrote, which had 178 million streams,” Kadish began, without specifying any streaming services. “I mean $5,679? That’s my share. That’s as big a song as a songwriter can have in their career and number one in 78 countries.

“But you’re making $5,600. How do you feed your family?”

I believe Spotify and other streaming services should provide a better payout for songwriters.

With all the genres and sub-genres it can be difficult to identify mainstream pop, the genre that is perceived to impact popular culture, that targets teens.

If you’ve been out-of-touch with popular music, then follow these tips to pin down the current pop sound. Plus, you’ll appear to be hip with your peers, with your finger on the pulse.

For starters, you can go to the Billboard Pop Charts and sift through the top 20. Spotify and Shazam will also show you what’s trending. These particular charts are reflective of popular culture but may not paint the best picture. Artists outside of the mainstream like Hozier and Gotye can slip through the cracks which would not mirror the current sound.

Here is a tried–and–true tip. Seek out the older women who wants to revive her former career at pop radio.

Old timers on big labels that want another shot at fame will hire 20 songwriters, 20 producers, a hip stylist, and videographer, with the hope of climbing their way back on the top 40 charts. All in all, they are hoping to penetrate the minds and the emotions of the teens. CONTINUE READING